************

********

*****

  Black lashes fluttered open to reveal a pair of deep black eyes which slowly scanned the surroundings they were currently in. With a groan, Arin sat up in the hospital bed and raised his hand to rub his throbbing head. 'What happened?'

"Ah You're awake." he heard a clear and crisp female voice making him turn to the side. His black eyes met the dark browns of the nurse who brazenly stared at him with so much curiosity, making his insides turn for some reason.

Her stares made him feel very uncomfortable and not in a good way.

He turned his head away and looked at the IV drip being injected into his body. He then reluctantly looked back at the nurse who was still doing whatever she was doing in the room and sighed a little before speaking.

"Could you take this off please?" he closed his eyes and tilted his head to somehow soothe the slight headache he was feeling.

"You need to keep it on until you feel-"

"I'm fine. Look. I'm all better so please take this off. I need to use the bathroom."

"But-"

.

.

*************

.

.

*SPLASH!*

*SPLASH!*

A soft sigh escaped the lips of the man who continued to splash his face with water before looking up at the mirror. Arin looked at his reflection in a daze- he still couldn't grasp the fact that the world would become like that in a few months. Not just a zombie apocalypse would occur, but rifts would also open way for other kinds of monsters, powers, artifacts...

The world would completely change from the no way it was.

Taking a towel to dry his face,he paused and his expression turned into one of confusion when words began appearing in the air out of nowhere.

*

[profession(Hoarder) skill 'appraisal' has been used]

[Name: Towel *Halive edition* (Lv 4)]

[Type: standard]

[innate skill: Absorbs water from wet surfaces]

[passive skill: (Null)]

[overall: Your everyday hospital towel]

*

What the heck was this.

His confusion was about to rise when he remembered how the world in the novel worked. Strange phenomenons like this and more were common among awakened people.

Wait... Did this mean he was awakened? He'd awoken an ability?!

Wide eyes looked at the floating screen with shock, then at the towel... and back to the screen again.

But why did he awaken now? It wasn't time for people to be awakened yet... The rifts haven't even physically appeared.

"Profession.. Hoarder?" He mummured to himself quietly as he skimmed through the novel again in his head.

There was no profession like that in the novel. He closest people had to this was the spatial storage ability and those weren't professions, those were abilities belonging to only a few people and some artifacts.

Suddenly, he remembered what had happened in the bus and the message he received from the 'non-existent' author who sent him the book.

'Ah? Was it them?' his mind began to wonder who this mysterious author and helper was and why they would help him of all people.

"Status" the male uttered, still skeptical if it would work just like what was written or not.

*

[[Name: Arin Jeager (Lv?)

[[age: 25

[[Profession: Hoarder(F) Inter-dimensional trader(lower realm)

[[Stats: strength(15) agility(20) mana(2) Speed(15) Stamina(20)

[[skills: Appraisal(D) Hoard(E)

[[....

[[....

.

    As Arin read all the information about himself he was given, an idea slowly entered his head. A seductress it was, enticing him... like a predator would to her prey.

"No. That would be wrong. What about the people who'll need it?" he replied to the thought in his head.

"I can't... at least not now."

**************

**********1 week later*********

   Arin had been out of the hospital for a week now and had been able to understand the function of this new ability he'd either awoken or was given.

The 'Appraisal' skill he had, which was self explanatory, meant he could see the status of other things, although not people. At first when he tried to appraise people, he received a message saying,

[Appraisal skill level is not high enough. Please collect more exp]

The same message popped up even when he tried to appraise plants or animals.

As for the needed Exp, Exp was gained everytime he used his abilities. It was basically some kind of 'proficiency' count he would gain the more he got better uses out of his ability, which would then go to the progress bar to fill it up.

When the progress bar was full, his skill would undergo an 'upgrade' meaning the more range of things he could appraise. By now, he was already able to appraise plants but not animals or Humans.

Let it be known that appraising the same thing a second time does not give Exp. Appraisal Exp gained can only be gotten once from whatever the skill was used on and the amount of Exp gained differs depending on the level or worth of the object or person.

The 'Hoarder' skill he had enabled him to store anything he wanted in his inventory and there was even a special place for Artifacts and weapons. The more he used his ability the more exp he would gain in the progress bar which was located at the of the status page of the skill he was using.

When the progress bar of the skill was full, the inventory would undergo an 'upgrade' meaning the more things he could put in his inventory and the bigger the size of things he could carry.

It really followed the term 'practice makes perfect'.

The other one was 'inter-dimensional trade' but he hasn't been able to access it yet. Everytime he tries to use this function, he would always get the same message.

[ Interdimensional door for trading hasn't been activated. ]

[ World energy level is not enough. ]

   Today Arin was laying on the sofa with one of his feet on top of the head rest and the other one in the direction of the floor. He was currently contemplating how to go on with his preparations. Time was running out and now he had less than a complete three months to prepare. He'd already hoarded up as much food as his money could buy... which wasn't much since he didn't have much money. He also stored up a lot of water, though, still felt it wasn't enough.

He needed more.

Arin using his mind, opened up his inventory- wanting to know how much he'd stored up and how much more he needed.

The large screen appeared in front of him with five different icons flashing brightly. One icon had a light blue drop of water and a meter signifying how much litres of water he currently had. Another, had the icon of a book since that was where Arin had stored the special novel of the world that he'd recieved. The other three signified food, clothes and shoes respectively. It'd only been a week so he hadn't been able to store up too much. The only thing he had in large amount was water... since he didn't have to pay too much for it.

This is truly far from enough.

Now Arin made a decision.

He's selling his house.